Should I Bite the bullet and just use Blender?

#1 Hi Jaren,

First off I'll start by stating that i use 3ds MAX so I unfortunately won't be able to answer any technical questions you may have about the newer versions of Blender.

However, Blender was my first choice of modeling software when i first decided to get into the modeling scene.

The software itself is very good considering it's free. There were quite a lot of bugs with the animation and built in game engine back when i was using it, yet most of these were minor and would rarely get in the way of the tasks I was trying to accomplish.

Anyway, the modeling side of it. There is nothing stopping anyone that uses Blender from churning models out that could compete with any of the 3d modeling packages. It has everything that you'd require to make models for your gaming needs. Yet, as always, the models and detail depend upon the artists skills.

Perhaps the rigging of characters isn't as sophisticated as software such as 3ds MAX and other expensive packages but it certainly has everything you'd need to animate a character to a still, high standard.

Textures can also be applied with Blender, and I've heard good things about the exporter too.

I certainly hope this has helped you make up your mind.

Sean

#2 "better then..." is such a vague answer/question when talking about human preference.

Lets face it, milkshape has all the tools (that im aware of atleast, im using Blender ;}) that you need to get a model with animation into Torque, and so do Blender.

I will suggest to play around with the Blender settings abit to make it more like you want it to, Default made me frustrated since ive used 3D Studio Max before Blender.

and watch a video on how to use the GUI on Blender.org.
There is allot of nice tutorials out there to so keep playing around with blender and you might find it to your liking.

#3 Thanks a lot Sean all I need now is a lot of patience and time to learn the forever frustrating program to its fullest extent thanks a heap!!! ty, ty, ty!!!

#4 So you can actually change the GUI in Blender?

#5 Not a problem, just happy i could help.

Yet, as TT has said, there is a wealth of tutorials and videos available to help you get a feel for the interface. Also I'd recommend following a few of the beginner tutorials to get your head around the hotkeys and layout whilst still producing results.

Good luck with what you wish to achieve.

EDIT: I believe you can change the GUI to some extent, unfortunately I'm not to sure as to what extent that is. There will no doubt be topics covering this on the blender main forum if you just do a quick search.

#6 Max/Maya layouts for Blender

#7 It's easy to change layouts in Blender but I recommend you use the standard GUI it ships with until you you become comfortable with it. Most tutorials will use the standard GUI and if you change it to something else it will be harder to use the tutorials.

Blender isn't that hard to use but it's just like all the high-end software and can do so much you can be overwelmed with all the commands there are. There's lots/tons of support/forums/tutorials/videos/books and the software is free.

#8 To anyone who has used Maya and/or Max and Blender,

I've used StudioMax and Maya. How does Blender compare in learning curve. I've had a lot of trouble animating with Max, so I haven,t tried with Maya.

Was Blender easier, harder, faster, slower to learn? Opinions are relative, but what are your thoughts?

Tony

#9 ->Infinitum3D
My take on modeling with Blender VS 3Ds Max is that you do the "same" thing start out with a box move verts/ edge's -> extrude ...... -> finnished model. Or how ever you do what you do.

The thing is from a Max viewpoint Blender's navigation system is craaazy at first. <-- keyword(s) "at first"..
atleast it was for me, so i changed a few settings to act more in the way i wanted it to.

-> mb
I recommend changing a few things to your likeing ,} To a way you expect a 3D app to work.

im only talking navigation / editing button's here.

I've only changed "Select with: LMB" "MMB: Pan View" "Transform: Drag Immediatley" (gotta love that last one) and 3 windows instead of the default 1 when viewing your scene's. (as a start atleast)

But hey thats the way i expect a 3D app to work like, bottom line is make it work for you thats why the settings are there in the first place.

#10 ...

#11 Yea I have been using blender for a bit now and think I am starting to get the hang of it interface wise. But I still cant model as well as I could in Milkshape so I guess I'll just need some more practice. Also if anyone knows of some really good Tutorials for blender off hand just post a link or something that would be Highly accepted! ty

#12 I'd go to nystic1 or superboy3 or super3boy on youtube for some starter tutorials then on to his tutorial forums where you can learn quite a bit. It's a good site for asking questions if you can avoid the 2 spell check nazis (verts, verticles, verticii or whatever they like to go on about) .

#13 Thanks Fyreus superboy3 has quite a few good Tutorials ty.